15 Czech Life Hacks

One of the most important steps in pickling is heating the pickles in their jars to the right temperature – about 80°C. To do this accurately you need a pickling pot with a slot for a thermometer. Wouldn’t it be easier if you had a device which heats water exactly to 80°C? Maybe, you already do. A programmable dishwasher can be set to the right temperature. Seal the jars with the cucumbers and pickling brine, place them in the dishwasher and let them cycle through at the desired temperature.

Wasps. Ugh. Nothing ruins a summer day outside like a wasp. And beer in plastic bottles, Ugh. Who drinks that stuff? Conveniently, the latter can be used to deal with the former. With a sturdy piece of wire or twine suspend from a tree or high place away from the entertainment area an open plastic bottle half-full with cheap beer. Wasps are not choosy uninvited guests and will come for a drink but become trapped in the bottle.

This is probably one of the more ubiquitous hacks – small windmills made from empty PET bottles. Their purpose? To scare birds away from gardens. The most basic design requires you to cut two panels on opposite sides, leaving a hinge, then opening them out like wings. For the more manually inclined, cut the bases of four PET bottles and attach them to a fifth bottle, so they stick out like ears but all face the same way. Attach either version on a pole. The wind should do the rest. 

Perhaps this one isn’t strictly Czech, but I saw it done here first. Instead of cutting a dumpling with a knife and thereby squishing it, take a length of string, ordinary cotton does the trick, pull it under the dumpling and then cross the ends over and pull the string through. You should get a nicely formed dumpling slice. String can also be use to cut cakes, especially the more delicately constructed ones, and soft cheeses, though it’s enough to pull the string taut and push down through the food.

Ginger is fantastic, but how to peel it without losing so much of the fragrant goodness of the inside? A cheese grater is good for small pieces but if you need the root whole, use a spoon. Take an ordinary teaspoon and, with the concave side pointing in the direction you will peel, run the edge against the ginger. You’ll get rid of the peel and leave nearly all the inside.

What to do with the celeriac stalk? If you’re like me, you probably get the grocer to cut it off at the store. Little did I know I was throwing away a means to keep my bread fresh. Simply, put the stalk and the bread into a plastic bag. The bread will absorb moisture from the stalk and keep longer.

This is an easy hack. If you add too much salt to your soup, throw in a few pieces of quartered raw potato (peeled of course). The potato will absorb the excess salt without affecting the taste of the soup.

After a wood fire, don’t throw out the ash. You can use it bring nice shine to metal pots and pans. Pour a small amount of ash on a damp cloth and gently rub onto the metal. Ash can also be used to clean precious stones – in case you happen to have those lying around too.

If you’ve ever wandered through a Prague neighborhood with a lot of high-rise buildings you have robably spotted the glint of a dangling CD or twenty. Many people tie them to the railings of their balconies in the hopes that the glare from the sun will detract pesky pigeons. 

Those thin, filmy plastic bags from the supermarket that you put your produce in have multiple uses in the Czech household. One of them, and I can vouch for its efficiency but not its safety, is as a quick-and-easy dumpling steamer. Fill the bag with the desired amount of dumplings and two teaspoons of water, twist, tie in a knot, and heat for two minutes.

Attaching an old sock to a broom or mop handle can be helpful for erasing cob webs and dust from hard-to-reach corners.

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